1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of curing floors, and more specifically an apparatus for enhanced curing of floors using ultraviolet radiation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of flooring exists in industrial, manufacturing, and warehouse applications. Certain surfaces can be cured using a photo-initiated or photosensitive sealant material. For example, an ultraviolet (UV) ‘sealer’ is applied atop the floor surface designed to protect the surface from wear and tear due to foot traffic, motorized traffic, spills, and so forth. For certain floor types, it may be highly desirable to apply UV sealers specially formulated for hardwood, stone, tile, medium density fiberboard, particle board, plywood, vinyl materials, or concrete flooring.
For example, to seal the concrete floor a urethane-based copolymer UV material may be applied to a floor, such as a concrete floor, and cured. Other floor material types may respond well to treatment with photo-initiated sealant materials including acrylated and cationic epoxies, urethanes, polyesters, and environmental protection agency zero volatile organic compound formulas.
Many of today's UV sealant material formulations require a long period of time, e.g. ranging from several hours to days, to fully cure a surface such that the surface is ready for use. In situations where the area being sealed incurs a great deal of traffic or provides an emergency exit pathway, extensive down time while the sealant is curing is highly undesirable.
Various devices are currently available to facilitate the curing and sealing of UV light sensitive coatings applied to a floor surface. In general, such curing machines include a UV lamp, a reflector, and a power source housed in a moveable and portable frame. The device is positioned over the floor surface whereupon radiation provided from the UV lamp is directed to the coated surface. The frame may be manually pushed across the floor surface, and in certain instances, mechanized wheels power and propel the frame forward. Such machines typically power a UV light source at a small distance above the surface, from a few inches to a foot, whereby adjusting the height of the frame away from the surface can in certain instances reduce the UV radiation applied to the coating. Materials requiring significant radiation for curing may require operation of such a machine and light source a small distance from the floor to adequately cure the surface.
Today's designs may be problematic when operated at close distances, where a portion of the machine can come in contact with the floor and/or uncured UV coating material.
Contact with the floor surface causes current machine designs to perform inadequately over large floor anomalies such as expansion joints. During the transition over the expansion joint, parts of current floor curing machine designs typically come into contact with the floor and the uncured floor coating surface. Contact in this manner damages the uncured photo-initiated coating and can damage the machine, resulting in the need to re-apply the coating and/or a significant increase in cost and time to complete the floor curing process.
Additionally, such machines use various devices to restrict application of UV radiation while the machine is warming up. Previous designs have employed designs such as a complex shutter arrangement that mechanically opens using a set of hinges. This type of design can become clogged or fouled with dirt, dust, or other contaminants and cease operating properly.
Further, certain machine designs employ cables for power. These cables can become entangled in the machine, or can be tripped over by the operator. Additionally, certain machines are difficult to store, particularly in small places. Capability to reduce the overall dimensions of the unit can in certain instances be highly beneficial.
It would therefore be useful to provide a floor curing machine design that overcomes the drawbacks associated with previous machines.